Because We Will Always Be Brothers
by ButterflyMeadow
Summary: Brotherly fluff, 2003-verse, SAINW. Ever since the Turtles returned from the twisted dimensions the Ultimate Draco sent them to, Don has been traumatized and is having nightmares of his experience. But how will he get help if he doesn't tell his brothers?


**A/N: Okay, I've gone Turtle-crazy because of all these plot bunnies! So this is a SAINW fic. I was really surprised that **_**Donnie**_**, the most sensitive of the Turtles, didn't have much of a reaction to the terrible world he was sent to! The most he did was hug Raph and Mikey when he saw them :P This one's Leo/Don/Raph/Mikey brotherly fluff :) Rated T because of some cussing and blood.**

**Disclaimer: It isn't mine, you get the picture already.**

**Because We Will Always Be Brothers**

**By Meerca aka Butterfly Meadow**

_Donatello fired a barrage of missiles as the Foot Ninja approached his battle suit. He was exhausted, but everything was going well, so far. He just needed to get to Shredder—_

"_Donnie! DONNIE, HELP—!"_

_Donatello whipped around, and watched in horror as Michelangelo pitched forward and fell to the cold cement floor, staining it red with blood. "NO! MIKEY!" he shouted, immediately making a beeline for his younger brother, but a legion of Amazonian Blade Bots stopped him in his tracks. As Donatello desperately fought off the lethal robots, he saw Leonardo cross his eye line. Leonardo had knocked down Karai, and was about to deliver the final blow with his katana, when he whirled around just in time to fend off a Karai bot. But as soon as he turned his back, Karai rose to her feet, her katana raised._

"_LEO, LOOK OUT!" Donatello's cry was too late, and Karai's blade fatally stabbed Leonardo. The eldest brother fell, his own blood now joining the floor._

"_KARAI, YOU BITCH!" Raphael roared, dashing forward to defend his older brother. The rash action sealed his fate, as well, as Karai simply raised her katana and slashed Raphael's plastron. He hit the floor, splattering it with blood, and crawled weakly to Leonardo. His mouth barely moved as he collapsed, unmoving._

"_NO!" Donatello screamed in anguish, forgetting all about the danger around him. He jumped out of his exo-suit and ran to his fallen brothers, tears pouring down his face as he fell to his knees before them. "No . . . Mikey . . . Leo . . . Raph . . ."_

_At the sound of feet, Donatello whirled around, whipping his bo staff out of his belt and facing the person. Karai held her katana out before her, the tip of the blade dripping with his brothers' blood. "I am truly sorry, Donatello, but I must do as I my master wishes. Join your brothers in the afterlife."_

_Karai charged, her katana glistening as it met a traumatized Donatello's stomach._

Donatello shot up in his bed, breathing heavily. He closed his eyes, putting his face in his hands shakily. His bed sheets were damp with sweat, and his pillow was nearly drenched. The genius Turtle drew his knees to his chest and hugged his trembling body. What was it about that nightmare that rattled his so much? He'd had the same vision _every night_ since the Ultimate Draco had sent him to the horrendous dimension where the Shredder controlled the world, and it was just as frightening as when he'd first experienced it. It always felt so_ real_ . . . so terrifyingly real . . .

_I need a glass of water to calm myself down,_ Don decided, steadying himself as he stood. He stumbled a bit, but managed to get out of his room and into the kitchen without much noise. Don had to hold his arm to stop it from quivering as he poured water into a glass. He gulped down the cool liquid and put the glass back on the counter, still shaking.

Donnie wanted to tell someone about his problem more than anything, but he didn't want anyone worrying about him. His fingers clenched into a fist. _I'm such a weakling! I'm so unnerved by a stupid dream that I've had a million times! Leo, Raph, and Mikey have moved on, so why can't I? Why am I still so _scared_?_

"Donnie, is that you?" The purple-masked Turtle jumped at the voice and turned around. With a mental sigh of relief he realized it was Michelangelo.

"Y-yeah, it's me, Mikey."

Mikey laughed. "Dude, I saw this shadow and I'm like, 'Holy shell, there's a monster in the kitchen who's gonna eat all my ice cream bars!'"

Don forced a laugh. "What are you doing up, Mikey?"

"I got a little hungry . . . hey, Donnie, you cold?"

Don cursed himself for having bad control over his body's trembling. "Uh, yeah, kind of . . ."

"But you look kinda . . . shiny or something?" The orange-masked Turtle furrowed his brow and felt his older brother's forehead. "You're sweating? Leo making you do extra training or something?"

"Um . . ."

"What's wit all dis racket, you two?"

Donnie was extremely relieved for Raphael's timely interruption. He'd wriggled out of that one.

Or so he thought.

Raph's caramel hazel eyes narrowed. "Yo, you okay, brainiac? Yer shiverin' like shell—"

"Donnie said he was cold, but he's sweaty, too!" Mikey told their older brother worriedly.

"Is somethin' wrong, bro?" Raph's voice immediately showed concern as he put a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "I know dat ain't normal."

Don looked down. "I-I'm just fine, you guys!"

"Am I missing out on something?"

Again, Donnie was saved by an older brother. Leonardo entered the kitchen, rubbing his dark chocolate eyes. "What are you three doing here?"

Again, Don wasn't safe for long.

"Something's wrong with Don!"

Leo's sleepiness vanished, and he was at Donnie's side immediately. "What's wrong, Don?"

"I said it's nothing, guys!" Don insisted, but his body was telling otherwise. _Ugh I need to stop! It's giving me away . . ._

"That's what ya always tell us, Donnie," Raph said impatiently. "Seriously, what's wrong?"

"Raph, seriously, there's nothing wrong—"

"Donnie, do you know look like shell?" Leo's voice was stern, but he looked troubled. "Just tell us, bro. Are you hurt or something?"

There was no way out of this when _Leo_ was there. Don sighed. "No . . ."

"Did you have a bad dream?" Mikey asked innocently. Donnie opened his mouth to say no, but for some reason, it didn't come out.

"Wait a minute . . ." Leo looked like he'd realized something. "Donnie . . . you never told us what happened with you when you went to one of Draco's dimensions . . ."

"Yeah . . . you've been avoidin' da question whenever we asked." Raph seemed to be catching on, too.

"Does this have something to do with . . . what happened in your dimension?" Even Mikey was getting a gist of the idea.

_I have to get out of here, or I don't even want to think what'll happen!_ Donnie made to sprint out of the room, but all three of his brothers grabbed onto his arm.

"Donnie, you're going to tell us what happened."

"An' there's no way outta it dis time."

Leo, Mikey, and Raph pulled Donnie to the den and the four brothers sat on the floor. They looked at their genius brother expectantly. "Go ahead, Donnie," Mikey prompted him.

Don looked down at his lap and inhaled a shivery breath. "Okay . . . so I ended up in a world where the Shredder ruled everything." Raph, Mikey, and Leo tensed. "It was terrible . . . everywhere you looked, the Shredder would be watching you; his face was _everywhere_. The streets were barren, there were no cars or people . . . Manhattan was abandoned. Everyone was working for the Shredder in camps without breaks or suitable nutrition.

"Anyway, I landed in our lair, which was completely trashed. No one was there, and it looked like it'd been abandoned for years. I went outside to investigate, and was greeted by some Foot goons. I was about to take them down when . . . that dimension's Mikey appeared and took them down for me." Don had to smile at how pleased Mikey looked, but he wouldn't be for long.

"Well . . . Mikey didn't look right at _all_. He was scarred and wearing lots of strange gear, and his . . . h-his left arm wasn't there." Mikey almost screamed, but Raph clapped a hand over his mouth and hissed, "You'll wake up Sensei!"

"He was surprised to see me . . . apparently, I'd been gone for _thirty years._ In that time, that dimension's Leo and Raph had had a huge fight that made them go separate ways and . . . Sensei had . . . had . . . p-passed . . ." Don didn't have to look at his brothers' expressions to see how shocked they were. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. "Mikey took me to a group of people who were resisting the Shredder's rule; mainly Angel, April, Mikey, and, surprisingly, Hun and Baxter Stockman, who'd had a gruesome 'joining,' because of one of the Shredder's nasty punishments.

"Apparently, April and the others had tried to infiltrate the Shredder's building many times, and lost many people, including Casey, to the battles. I wanted to try and stop the Shredder, but no one seemed to want to try. I talked them into it, and got a plan.

"April called Leo and Raph to the headquarters, and I managed to get them to settle their argument. We all agreed to penetrate the Shredder's building that night."

Don breathed in sharply. This was going to be the hardest part. "We did just that. I had an exo suit to back up my plan, while Raph, Leo, Mikey, and April fended off legions of Karai bots, and Karai herself. Everything was going according to plan, until . . ." Donnie trailed off.

"Until . . . ?" Leo egged him on.

"Mikey was s-surrounded by a bunch of Karai bots . . . and . . ." Don's voice broke, and his tears began to gather again. "And they . . . they . . . k-killed him."

Mikey gasped, and Raph put a hand on his shoulder.

"I tried to get there, I-I really did . . . but I didn't get there in time! And then . . . Leo was b-battling Karai and she . . . k-killed him! And when Raph t-tried to save L-Leo, Karai k-killed him, too!" Don was beginning to cry. "I d-did defeat Shredder in the end, b-but . . . the c-cost was t-too much . . ."

"Donnie . . ." Raph's voice was husky with emotion.

"And I keep h-having nightmares!" Don's crying got worse. "N-nightmares of you g-guys . . . when you g-got killed! I've b-been having the _exact _s-same nightmare s-since I came back from that m-monstrous place . . . and it f-feels so real every t-time! It m-makes me think th-that it's actually h-happening! I d-don't _want_ you to d-die! I _l-love_ you guys!"

Leo pulled the distraught and sobbing Donnie into his arms, looking at his other two brothers meaningfully. Mikey was patting Don's shoulder, trying to comfort him. Raph looked extremely angry.

"Dat . . . dat goddamned _bastard_," Raph snarled, slamming his fist into the floor. "Had da nerve ta throw our innocent little Donnie inta dat _hell_? He should be glad dat he's already had da kibosh put on him, 'cause I'm fuckin' _pissed _an' woulda kicked his fuckin' _ass_—"

"Raph!" Leo reprimanded him. "Getting mad isn't going to help anything!" Leo looked down at Donnie, who was still sobbing into his chest. "Shh . . . it's alright, Donnie . . ." He kissed his younger brother's forehead.

"Donnie . . ." Mikey kept patting Donnie's shoulder, looking sad to see his brother so distressed. "C'mon, bro, everything's okay now! We're here for you! Man . . . I totally hate Draco right now . . ."

Raph was watching his immediate younger brother crying, his anger quickly abating and his heart breaking to see one of his younger brothers so sad. He put his hand on Don's other shoulder. "Ya didn' deserve dat at all, Donnie . . ." Raph said quietly, leaning his forehead against the side of Don's head. "Oh, Donnie . . ."

The four brothers stayed silent for a little, Mikey, Raph, and Leo trying to comfort Don.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Leo asked, patting Don's shell soothingly. "We could've helped you, Donnie."

"I didn't w-want you g-guys to w-worry about me . . ." came Don's muffled voice. His crying had calmed a little.

"Donnie, we've gotta take care of each other!" Mikey exclaimed, hugging Donnie. "How can we take care of each other if we don't tell each other what's up?"

"Ya had a real bad experience," Raph said, everyone surprised to see him kiss his little brother's forehead gently. "We ain't dyin' anytime soon, 'cause we need to be here for you. We're bros, Donnie. You can tell us anythin'."

"You can always come to us when you need to, Donnie," Leo smiled, kissing Don's forehead, too. "Because we will always be brothers."

"Turtles forever, brothers forever!" Mikey cheered, holding Don's hands in his.

The other three Turtles were delighted to see Don's face upturn into a smile. "Thanks, g-guys. I love you."

"We love you, too, Donnie." Raph, Leo, and Mikey went into a group hug, with Don in the center. Everyone closed their eyes, enjoying the moment of harmony. "We love you, too."

_Early the Next Morning . . ._

Master Splinter always had tea at dawn, and it happened to be that time of morning again. He stretched, working the kinks out of his old back, and took his walking stick off the wall. He strolled into the den and received a pleasant surprise.

Splinter's sons were in asleep in a close-knit cluster, with Donatello in the middle. Leonardo was on his right side, with his arms around his younger brother and his forehead touching the side of Donatello's. Raphael was above Donatello's head, holding his younger brother's right hand with his forehead touching the top of his head. And Michelangelo, his youngest son, was snug in between Donatello and Raphael, holding Donatello's left arm with his face nuzzled on the side of his older brother's.

Splinter smiled at how serene they looked. If only they were this way every day, he mused. He walked to his sons and placed a kiss on each forehead, draping a huge green blanket over all of them. _I am sure Donatello will be feeling much better,_ Splinter thought, gazing at his sons fondly. _With each other, my sons will never be lost. Because they will always have each other to guide them._

Smiling, Master Splinter walked into the kitchen to prepare his daily morning tea.

**A/N: I must say, I was proud of this :) Please review generously!**


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